my little 4.5 inch book was finished in the span of a few months with no real plan or theme…
just a place to play…
back in 2010 I created a “soul” angel from a sweet Paper Whimsy girl’s head, butterfly wings, a Tiffany lamp from a catalog and a stamped heart that I colored…
a copy just happened to be handy on my work table and this time she is acting as the soul of the Bluebell Forest on my pages below (shame about the glare but I was having sunlight issues in my photo below)…
there was some green silk ribbon threaded on a needle all ready and waiting on my pin cushion so I decided to stitch on the torn page from an old dictionary and a closeup photo of Bluebells from our archive of hundreds taken over the years…
when I first ordered these handmade books from LaWendula I immediately stamped the seedhead on the left with one of my hand carved stamps …
the book then got set aside for awhile …
a bit of found text helped complete the pages along with a scrap of map that I colored and a piece of painted metal zipper…
I shared my “Truth” pages above with you back in February adding some tabs to each spread as I went along this time…
same with my “Kindness” pages…
I am repeating the images here for my own convenience to have the finished book all in one place…
I think of my blog as a visual journal of sorts recording some of what I get into and even find it handy to refer to when I need a date or link or something…
I usually like to add the covers to my books at the end making it easier to work in the journals along the way…
one of my favorite sari patchwork purses was falling apart so I decided to carefully tease all of the patches away from their backing keeping them to use for future stitching projects…
the piece below was the perfect color and made a nice cover for my book…
the title of my little book (also found text) ended up on the back as I did not want to add anything else to the front…
I hope to share one of my larger completed art journals very soon as I have been busy on the last couple of spreads…
Magpie's Nest ~*~ Patty Szymkowicz 
What a wonderful project!! The girl with the royal blue is fabulous and all the pages for us to go goo,goo,gah,gah over…mmmmmm love it!
Have a great Thursday! We are having a holiday today so all is quiet on the home front.
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Am drooling over here in Australia Patty! What a stunning book of of color, and whimsy. It must be SO special to hold this book in your hands. I have always loved working in miniature. Am sure you will use your Sari silk treasures in the most lovely way – I have used lots of Indian fabric in my art and love the color it adds. Your art is beautiful!
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Patty, Your book is just lovely. Seeing all the pages together is such a delight and your saturated blues and greens just sing. Love the Tiffany lampshade as her skirt! Your beautiful sari bits are the perfect finish for this treasure. xoxo
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I love how you use everything and breath back a new life into it, amazing,
Get you Missy making your won stamps, brilliant, love seed pods, and tha tiffany lamp on her skirt brilliant again, the cover for the book, brilliant again, on my you are just so darn talented, having your needle all ready.. Thanks for sharing your visual journal with us, you have started my day off wonderfully, off to swimming, see you soon again and have a wonderful day. Oh do say hi to the Mister :)… I’m all a twitter tweet tweet tweet XOX…
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Congrats on finishing the journal. It’s great to see all the pages together. I love how perfectly the Tiffany lamp works as a dress.
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Like Dot, I am drooling here in Kent too! Your little soul angel is adorable on your bluebell page Patty!
I think it’s wonderful that you are re-purposing your beautiful bag, that panel makes a lovely cover for your book.
Alison xxx
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I love your book, Patty, especially that patchwork square on the cover! Gorgeous texture and color from it. How fun to have accomplished a book! Enjoy.
Kate
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Wow, your book is adorable and gorgeous, dear Patty.
have a lovely weekend
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What a feast for the eyes! I especially like your hand-carved stamp and the little numbers tab on the blue pages, and that art doll is just great!
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I love how you more or less took what was in front of you and used your beautiful previous work to make something new and lovely. You are working in my favorite color palette, so how could I not adore this!
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Your blues in abundance! The paper in La Wendula’s book is gorgeous…and you have only enhanced it. Love the cover.
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Your book is amazingly beautiful and clever and a nice size. It will be a treasure for sure!
The blues and greens which permeate your work are so vibrant, they bring the posts to life.
Xxxx
Loved reading this post:)
Sue
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So beautiful! You were very wise to keep that sari purse. So many beautiful pieces just waiting to be reinvented into art.
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Dear Patty, isen`t it wonderful to have compleeted your beautiful book!
Every page is a gorgeous study in blue and green….and I love the touch of pinks on some pages !! Also every page belongs to the next, all through the book- a beautiful flow, and a story so wonderfully told!!
Hugs and love,Dorthe
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Your work is enchanting Patty. Just beautiful xxx
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Oh; the blues Patty! I love each and every page! xxoo
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Such an amazing little journal! I found it so sweet and I love that the colors are repeat in each page…so wonderful to see it all in once and to marvel at your gorgeous cover! ♥ Conny
http://piaromsartjournaling.blogspot.de
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Gorgeous! So many beautiful and inspiring ideas. What a treat!!!!! TFS Patty. Have a wonderful weekend.
Florence xx
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what a beautiful journal that is patty….the colors are so lovely…. I had one of those sari cushions and it feel to bit pretty quickly…ive been recycling it too 🙂
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OMG…lost for words…absolutely stunning Patty! Love how you have recycled your sari patchwork pieces x
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This is so incredible. I was going to try to pick a favorite page…. but I can’t. I love them all. And that cover is fabulous!!!! Simply fabulous! You would be such an awesome teacher, Patty. We need to get you a camera mounted above your work area. I see great things in your future… and in mine, of course, as your producer!
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simply gorgeous! your bluebell faery is so sweet in her paper finery! and that book?? darling! what a great purse to save and reuse…lovely, springy colors, my friend…happy mother’s day to you too!
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What a lovely book and the cover is perfect.
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You have just renewed my interest in collage and mixed media. I’ve been so busy sewing scrappy journal pages, I’ve lost sight of what I love so much: paper, paint, collage. You make it look so easy. You are the one who should be blessed. You have truly inspired me. Thank you, dear friend.
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Oh my gosh Patty .. I enjoy this blue/green symphony here … AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING! This is simply to much for me in one post!
you make me happy!
Happy weekend!
xxx
Susi
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what a really beautiful book Patty. I love the lass with her tiffany skirt 🙂 Each of your pages are filled with such lovely colors and textures and of course I also love all the delicate touches of nature-gorgeous!!!!
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so beautiful Patty – it all ties together so wonderfully with the colors of bluebells – I must say that I envy your sari patchwork though 🙂
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Absolutely gorgeous Patty – It’s perfect in every way. Blue is my favourite colour so of course I would love it!
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That is gorgeous! I love that size for creating in. You have such a wonderful color palette in this journal. Thanks for sharing,
rinda
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What a fantastic project! Your little journal is a feast for the eyes, Patty. I love every page and the cover is totaly amazing!
Have a wonderful Sunday!
Hugs,
Gaby
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Hello chère Patty,
un très bel ouvrage, fait avec amour et passion, une pièce unique que j’envie, une créativité au fil des jours et de l’an, une vraie merveille.
Bizzzz
MAPY
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Oooooh…..all those lovely blues and greens! This is definitely something to treasure Patty. Fabulous work! XX
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I am loving all your flowers. Wonderful smells are coming my way.
Your journal pages are stunning. I Love the Soul Angel. Lamp shade is just too fab an idea.
x0x
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